Underway Hyperspectral Bio-Optical Assessments of Phytoplankton Size Classes in the River-Influenced Northern Gulf of Mexico

High inflows of freshwater from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers into the northern Gulf of Mexico during spring contribute to strong physical and biogeochemical gradients which, in turn, influence phytoplankton community composition across the river plume–ocean mixing zone. Spectral features representative of bio-optical signatures of phytoplankton size classes (PSCs) were retrieved from underway, shipboard hyperspectral measurements of above-water remote sensing reflectance using the quasi-analytical algorithm (QAA_v6) and validated against in situ pigment data and spectrophotometric analyses of phytoplankton absorption. The results shed new light on sub-km scale variability in PSCs associated with dynamic and spatially heterogeneous environmental processes in river-influenced oceanic waters. Our findings highlight the existence of localized regions of dominant picophytoplankton communities associated with river plume fronts in both the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers in an area of the coastal margin that is otherwise characteristically dominated by larger microphytoplankton. This study demonstrates the applicability of underway hyperspectral observations for providing insights about small-scale physical-biological dynamics in optically complex coastal waters. Fine-scale observations of phytoplankton communities in surface waters as shown here and future satellite retrievals of hyperspectral data will provide a novel means of exploring relationships between physical processes of river plume–ocean mixing and frontal dynamics on phytoplankton community composition.